{"id":222,"date":"2018-02-12T22:33:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-13T06:33:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evaseyler.com\/?p=222"},"modified":"2019-03-13T22:39:04","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T05:39:04","slug":"summer-of-my-german-soldier-morning-is-a-long-time-coming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.evaseyler.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/summer-of-my-german-soldier-morning-is-a-long-time-coming\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer of My German Soldier\/Morning Is a Long Time Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the last two years, my friend and I have been somewhat obsessively reading books to one another over the phone. It\u2019s been a great way to share books with each other that the other person doesn\u2019t have access to. So far we are up to 34 books, not counting reading through the Bible to each other (we\u2019re almost through Jeremiah), or short stories, or our re-readings of A Childhood in Scotland<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The latest two she has read to me have been Bette Greene\u2019s Summer of My German Soldier<\/em><\/strong><\/a> and Morning Is a Long Time Coming<\/strong><\/a>. <\/em>There will be some spoilers in what I have to say, so if you don\u2019t want to be spoiled, stop reading now.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My mom had a copy of Summer of My German Soldier<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and I know she liked it (although I never saw her reading it). It was up on the shelf with other books that I kind of understood to be off-limits to me. Whether it actually was or not is another story, but whatever. Anyway, my friend has told me multiple times that she wanted to read it to me, and we finally got to it a few weeks ago. BOY what a story. I loved it. It was so beautiful while also being so painfully sad. Such a dysfunctional family, I tell you. I adored the diversity and liveliness of the characters, if not the characters themselves (PATTY\u2019S PARENTS ARRRRGGGHHHH). I was super touched by the way Anton Reiker was so kind to Patty and helped her feel worthwhile.<\/p>\n

Last night we finished the sequel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, and we have mixed feelings about it. It takes up the story six years after the first book and chronicles Patty Bergen\u2019s Quest for Closure (or something?), which involves going to Europe, G\u00f6ttingen particularly, to find Anton\u2019s mother, whom she daydreams near the close of Book 1 as becoming a mother to her, Patty, as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a lot going on in MIaLTC, and a lot of it is great.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s realistic in its portrayal of an 18 year old girl setting out on her own and dealing with how messed up she is from her childhood and her parents\u2019 treatment of her: she\u2019s confused, she\u2019s irrational, sometimes kind of dumb, but it all was believable to me. One of the themes (which I think carries over from SoMGS) is her longing for a mother, and it deals (somewhat unsatisfactorily) with the fact that Ruth was, for all practical purposes, Patty\u2019s mother, but for some reason or other Patty can\u2019t seem to come to grips with this. Is it because Ruth is black, and she can\u2019t quite get over her prejudice? It\u2019s obvious Patty loves Ruth with all her heart, and she wants to tell her this, but doesn\u2019t have a way. I hope that at some post-canonical point Patty was able to convey her feelings to Ruth, to let her know how much she meant to her.<\/p>\n

I was a little thrown by the friendships Patty forges with people on her ocean crossing. One is a potential love interest, who is temperamental and rude (like her father); the other is a girl who seems to want to remain friends after arriving in Paris. But both of these characters vapourise from view afterwards, despite having been developed enough that it felt weird that they just no longer existed after that.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s Patty\u2019s relationship with Roger Auberon, which starts basically the moment she arrives in Paris. It happened overnight (quite literally) and he\u2019s a good guy, if a bit impractical. Patty has a hard time reconciling that it\u2019s okay for a man to not treat her like trash.<\/p>\n

Where the book started to fall apart for me was the last few chapters, when Patty, fresh out of hospital from treatment for severe ulcers, goes to G\u00f6ttingen<\/span> against Roger\u2019s wishes (they have a fight about it) and doctor\u2019s orders, to follow her obsession with Anton\u2019s family to whatever end it comes.<\/p>\n

So we spend several chapters in G\u00f6ttingen<\/span> with a Sense of Impending Doom, and after a lot of waffling about and being terrified of the telephone, Patty learns that Anton\u2019s mother is dead, and she leaves the city without telling Anton\u2019s father or sister (whom she meets) any of the things she had planned to say to Mrs Reiker. It felt like a lot of wasted time somehow, although that section did have one of the best lines in the book:<\/p>\n

I submitted my body to the telephone with the same sense of impending oblivion that a condemned man must experience at the moment of submission to the electric chair. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, Patty. SO DRAMATIC. I love you.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the book does have a hopeful ending despite the abovementioned Sense of Impending Doom.<\/p>\n

I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it had dealt less with the Anton Reiker Incident, and more with just Patty\u2019s growth as a person. It could have been a super strong standalone book; it felt a little strained trying to connect the two plots. Still, I was glad to read it and I think that, as sequels go, it was very good.<\/p>\n

But perhaps my most burning question is WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTON\u2019S RING BECAUSE THE SEQUEL NEVER SAYS SHE STILL WORE IT AND THIS TROUBLES ME A GREAT DEAL.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read these, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on them!<\/p>\n

-Eva<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the last two years, my friend and I have been somewhat obsessively reading books to one another over the phone. It\u2019s been a great way to share books with each other that the other person doesn\u2019t have access to. So far we are up to 34 books, not counting reading through the Bible to each other (we\u2019re almost through Jeremiah), or short stories, or our re-readings of A Childhood in Scotland. The latest two she has read to me have been Bette Greene\u2019s Summer of My German Soldier and Morning Is a Long Time Coming. There will be some spoilers in what I have to say, so if you don\u2019t want to be spoiled, stop reading now.   My mom had a copy of Summer of My German Soldier, and I know she liked it (although I never saw her reading it). It was up on the shelf with other books that I kind of understood to be off-limits to me. Whether it actually was or not is another story, but whatever. Anyway, my friend has told me multiple times that she wanted to read it to me, and we finally got to it a few weeks ago. BOY what a story. I loved it. It was so beautiful while also being so painfully sad. Such a dysfunctional family, I tell you. I adored the diversity and liveliness of the characters, if not the characters themselves (PATTY\u2019S PARENTS ARRRRGGGHHHH). I was super touched by the way Anton Reiker was so kind to Patty and helped her feel worthwhile. Last night we finished the sequel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming, and we have mixed feelings about it. It takes up the story six years after the first book and chronicles Patty Bergen\u2019s Quest for Closure (or something?), which involves going to Europe, G\u00f6ttingen particularly, to find Anton\u2019s mother, whom she daydreams near the close of Book 1 as becoming a mother to her, Patty, as well. There\u2019s a lot going on in MIaLTC, and a lot of it is great. It\u2019s realistic in its portrayal of an 18 year old girl setting out on her own and dealing with how messed up she is from her childhood and her parents\u2019 treatment of her: she\u2019s confused, she\u2019s irrational, sometimes kind of dumb, but it all was believable to me. One of the themes (which I think carries over from SoMGS) is her longing for a mother, and it deals (somewhat unsatisfactorily) with the fact that Ruth was, for all practical purposes, Patty\u2019s mother, but for some reason or other Patty can\u2019t seem to come to grips with this. Is it because Ruth is black, and she can\u2019t quite get over her prejudice? It\u2019s obvious Patty loves Ruth with all her heart, and she wants to tell her this, but doesn\u2019t have a way. I hope that at some post-canonical point Patty was able to convey her feelings to Ruth, to let her know how much she meant to her. I was a little thrown by the friendships Patty forges with people on her ocean crossing. One is a potential love interest, who is temperamental and rude (like her father); the other is a girl who seems to want to remain friends after arriving in Paris. But both of these characters vapourise from view afterwards, despite having been developed enough that it felt weird that they just no longer existed after that. Then there\u2019s Patty\u2019s relationship with Roger Auberon, which starts basically the moment she arrives in Paris. It happened overnight (quite literally) and he\u2019s a good guy, if a bit impractical. Patty has a hard time reconciling that it\u2019s okay for a man to not treat her like trash. Where the book started to fall apart for me was the last few chapters, when Patty, fresh out of hospital from treatment for severe ulcers, goes to G\u00f6ttingen against Roger\u2019s wishes (they have a fight about it) and doctor\u2019s orders, to follow her obsession with Anton\u2019s family to whatever end it comes. So we spend several chapters in G\u00f6ttingen with a Sense of Impending Doom, and after a lot of waffling about and being terrified of the telephone, Patty learns that Anton\u2019s mother is dead, and she leaves the city without telling Anton\u2019s father or sister (whom she meets) any of the things she had planned to say to Mrs Reiker. It felt like a lot of wasted time somehow, although that section did have one of the best lines in the book: I submitted my body to the telephone with the same sense of impending oblivion that a condemned man must experience at the moment of submission to the electric chair. Oh, Patty. SO DRAMATIC. I love you. Anyway, the book does have a hopeful ending despite the abovementioned Sense of Impending Doom. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it had dealt less with the Anton Reiker Incident, and more with just Patty\u2019s growth as a person. It could have been a super strong standalone book; it felt a little strained trying to connect the two plots. Still, I was glad to read it and I think that, as sequels go, it was very good. But perhaps my most burning question is WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTON\u2019S RING BECAUSE THE SEQUEL NEVER SAYS SHE STILL WORE IT AND THIS TROUBLES ME A GREAT DEAL. If you\u2019ve read these, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on them! -Eva<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[63,58],"tags":[52,53,54,55,56,57,17],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-ya","tag-anton-reiker","tag-bette-greene","tag-europe","tag-morning-is-a-long-time-coming","tag-patty-bergen","tag-summer-of-my-german-soldier","tag-wwii"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSummer of My German Soldier\/Morning Is a Long Time Coming : Eva Seyler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.evaseyler.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/summer-of-my-german-soldier-morning-is-a-long-time-coming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Summer of My German Soldier\/Morning Is a Long Time Coming : Eva Seyler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For the last two years, my friend and I have been somewhat obsessively reading books to one another over the phone. It\u2019s been a great way to share books with each other that the other person doesn\u2019t have access to. So far we are up to 34 books, not counting reading through the Bible to each other (we\u2019re almost through Jeremiah), or short stories, or our re-readings of A Childhood in Scotland. The latest two she has read to me have been Bette Greene\u2019s Summer of My German Soldier and Morning Is a Long Time Coming. There will be some spoilers in what I have to say, so if you don\u2019t want to be spoiled, stop reading now.   My mom had a copy of Summer of My German Soldier, and I know she liked it (although I never saw her reading it). It was up on the shelf with other books that I kind of understood to be off-limits to me. Whether it actually was or not is another story, but whatever. Anyway, my friend has told me multiple times that she wanted to read it to me, and we finally got to it a few weeks ago. BOY what a story. I loved it. It was so beautiful while also being so painfully sad. Such a dysfunctional family, I tell you. I adored the diversity and liveliness of the characters, if not the characters themselves (PATTY\u2019S PARENTS ARRRRGGGHHHH). I was super touched by the way Anton Reiker was so kind to Patty and helped her feel worthwhile. Last night we finished the sequel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming, and we have mixed feelings about it. It takes up the story six years after the first book and chronicles Patty Bergen\u2019s Quest for Closure (or something?), which involves going to Europe, G\u00f6ttingen particularly, to find Anton\u2019s mother, whom she daydreams near the close of Book 1 as becoming a mother to her, Patty, as well. There\u2019s a lot going on in MIaLTC, and a lot of it is great. It\u2019s realistic in its portrayal of an 18 year old girl setting out on her own and dealing with how messed up she is from her childhood and her parents\u2019 treatment of her: she\u2019s confused, she\u2019s irrational, sometimes kind of dumb, but it all was believable to me. One of the themes (which I think carries over from SoMGS) is her longing for a mother, and it deals (somewhat unsatisfactorily) with the fact that Ruth was, for all practical purposes, Patty\u2019s mother, but for some reason or other Patty can\u2019t seem to come to grips with this. Is it because Ruth is black, and she can\u2019t quite get over her prejudice? It\u2019s obvious Patty loves Ruth with all her heart, and she wants to tell her this, but doesn\u2019t have a way. I hope that at some post-canonical point Patty was able to convey her feelings to Ruth, to let her know how much she meant to her. I was a little thrown by the friendships Patty forges with people on her ocean crossing. One is a potential love interest, who is temperamental and rude (like her father); the other is a girl who seems to want to remain friends after arriving in Paris. But both of these characters vapourise from view afterwards, despite having been developed enough that it felt weird that they just no longer existed after that. Then there\u2019s Patty\u2019s relationship with Roger Auberon, which starts basically the moment she arrives in Paris. It happened overnight (quite literally) and he\u2019s a good guy, if a bit impractical. Patty has a hard time reconciling that it\u2019s okay for a man to not treat her like trash. Where the book started to fall apart for me was the last few chapters, when Patty, fresh out of hospital from treatment for severe ulcers, goes to G\u00f6ttingen against Roger\u2019s wishes (they have a fight about it) and doctor\u2019s orders, to follow her obsession with Anton\u2019s family to whatever end it comes. So we spend several chapters in G\u00f6ttingen with a Sense of Impending Doom, and after a lot of waffling about and being terrified of the telephone, Patty learns that Anton\u2019s mother is dead, and she leaves the city without telling Anton\u2019s father or sister (whom she meets) any of the things she had planned to say to Mrs Reiker. It felt like a lot of wasted time somehow, although that section did have one of the best lines in the book: I submitted my body to the telephone with the same sense of impending oblivion that a condemned man must experience at the moment of submission to the electric chair. Oh, Patty. SO DRAMATIC. I love you. Anyway, the book does have a hopeful ending despite the abovementioned Sense of Impending Doom. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it had dealt less with the Anton Reiker Incident, and more with just Patty\u2019s growth as a person. It could have been a super strong standalone book; it felt a little strained trying to connect the two plots. Still, I was glad to read it and I think that, as sequels go, it was very good. But perhaps my most burning question is WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTON\u2019S RING BECAUSE THE SEQUEL NEVER SAYS SHE STILL WORE IT AND THIS TROUBLES ME A GREAT DEAL. If you\u2019ve read these, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on them! -Eva\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.evaseyler.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/summer-of-my-german-soldier-morning-is-a-long-time-coming\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Eva Seyler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/authorevaseyler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-13T06:33:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-14T05:39:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/evareadsbooks.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/02\/summer-morning.jpg?w=300&h=251\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eva Seyler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@the_eva_seyler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@the_eva_seyler\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" 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It\u2019s been a great way to share books with each other that the other person doesn\u2019t have access to. So far we are up to 34 books, not counting reading through the Bible to each other (we\u2019re almost through Jeremiah), or short stories, or our re-readings of A Childhood in Scotland. The latest two she has read to me have been Bette Greene\u2019s Summer of My German Soldier and Morning Is a Long Time Coming. There will be some spoilers in what I have to say, so if you don\u2019t want to be spoiled, stop reading now.   My mom had a copy of Summer of My German Soldier, and I know she liked it (although I never saw her reading it). It was up on the shelf with other books that I kind of understood to be off-limits to me. Whether it actually was or not is another story, but whatever. Anyway, my friend has told me multiple times that she wanted to read it to me, and we finally got to it a few weeks ago. BOY what a story. I loved it. It was so beautiful while also being so painfully sad. Such a dysfunctional family, I tell you. I adored the diversity and liveliness of the characters, if not the characters themselves (PATTY\u2019S PARENTS ARRRRGGGHHHH). I was super touched by the way Anton Reiker was so kind to Patty and helped her feel worthwhile. Last night we finished the sequel, Morning Is a Long Time Coming, and we have mixed feelings about it. It takes up the story six years after the first book and chronicles Patty Bergen\u2019s Quest for Closure (or something?), which involves going to Europe, G\u00f6ttingen particularly, to find Anton\u2019s mother, whom she daydreams near the close of Book 1 as becoming a mother to her, Patty, as well. There\u2019s a lot going on in MIaLTC, and a lot of it is great. It\u2019s realistic in its portrayal of an 18 year old girl setting out on her own and dealing with how messed up she is from her childhood and her parents\u2019 treatment of her: she\u2019s confused, she\u2019s irrational, sometimes kind of dumb, but it all was believable to me. One of the themes (which I think carries over from SoMGS) is her longing for a mother, and it deals (somewhat unsatisfactorily) with the fact that Ruth was, for all practical purposes, Patty\u2019s mother, but for some reason or other Patty can\u2019t seem to come to grips with this. Is it because Ruth is black, and she can\u2019t quite get over her prejudice? It\u2019s obvious Patty loves Ruth with all her heart, and she wants to tell her this, but doesn\u2019t have a way. I hope that at some post-canonical point Patty was able to convey her feelings to Ruth, to let her know how much she meant to her. I was a little thrown by the friendships Patty forges with people on her ocean crossing. One is a potential love interest, who is temperamental and rude (like her father); the other is a girl who seems to want to remain friends after arriving in Paris. But both of these characters vapourise from view afterwards, despite having been developed enough that it felt weird that they just no longer existed after that. Then there\u2019s Patty\u2019s relationship with Roger Auberon, which starts basically the moment she arrives in Paris. It happened overnight (quite literally) and he\u2019s a good guy, if a bit impractical. Patty has a hard time reconciling that it\u2019s okay for a man to not treat her like trash. Where the book started to fall apart for me was the last few chapters, when Patty, fresh out of hospital from treatment for severe ulcers, goes to G\u00f6ttingen against Roger\u2019s wishes (they have a fight about it) and doctor\u2019s orders, to follow her obsession with Anton\u2019s family to whatever end it comes. So we spend several chapters in G\u00f6ttingen with a Sense of Impending Doom, and after a lot of waffling about and being terrified of the telephone, Patty learns that Anton\u2019s mother is dead, and she leaves the city without telling Anton\u2019s father or sister (whom she meets) any of the things she had planned to say to Mrs Reiker. It felt like a lot of wasted time somehow, although that section did have one of the best lines in the book: I submitted my body to the telephone with the same sense of impending oblivion that a condemned man must experience at the moment of submission to the electric chair. Oh, Patty. SO DRAMATIC. I love you. Anyway, the book does have a hopeful ending despite the abovementioned Sense of Impending Doom. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it had dealt less with the Anton Reiker Incident, and more with just Patty\u2019s growth as a person. It could have been a super strong standalone book; it felt a little strained trying to connect the two plots. Still, I was glad to read it and I think that, as sequels go, it was very good. But perhaps my most burning question is WHAT HAPPENED TO ANTON\u2019S RING BECAUSE THE SEQUEL NEVER SAYS SHE STILL WORE IT AND THIS TROUBLES ME A GREAT DEAL. If you\u2019ve read these, I\u2019d love to hear your thoughts on them! -Eva","og_url":"https:\/\/www.evaseyler.com\/index.php\/2018\/02\/12\/summer-of-my-german-soldier-morning-is-a-long-time-coming\/","og_site_name":"Eva Seyler","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/authorevaseyler","article_published_time":"2018-02-13T06:33:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-03-14T05:39:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/evareadsbooks.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/02\/summer-morning.jpg?w=300&h=251","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Eva Seyler","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@the_eva_seyler","twitter_site":"@the_eva_seyler","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eva Seyler","Estimated reading time":"5 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